Batons and Khachapuri

This book provides a testimony to the social, political, and cultural situation in Georgia during the pivotal period of 2024–2025, when a young democracy with a pro-European orientation was transformed into a one-party state. The author, a young Czech woman, spent a year in Georgia as a researcher, but instead of conducting typical field work, she became a witness to a dramatic social turning point.

Her narrative intertwines personal experiences with interviews with journalists, civil activists, and ordinary people from various regions and social classes – including representatives of ethnic minorities and supporters of the ruling party. Each of them is coping with the new reality in a different way. The book describes the collapse of independent media under the pressure of new legislation, the intimidation of protestors, and the transformation of public space. It is a portrait of a society and a country that lost its illusions in a single year – but not its dignity and courage.